Oil Filter

[Steve721]

I have been changing oil in my vehicles for as long as I have been driving. Now I have a small problem. I went to get the oil and filter at my local parts store and the filter for the Sienna was pulled from the shelves. I have been a die hard Fram guy. I was told there was a recall and they had to pull them. Also checked WalMart this past weekend. No luck. My questions are, has anyone heard anything about this recall and, what filter have you used in the past that worked well. I have noiced that Purolator PureOne filter has gotten good reviews. The Fram filter I used was the ToughGuard. Worked well and easy to find. Until now.

[happycamper]

I have found that the cheapest place to buy oil filters is at the Toyota parts counter.

[steelcity]

A while back I bought 10 filter elements and 10 crush washers and 2 crush washers for tranny on line at autopartspeople.com(maybe a oil plug to) . I paid $3.73 for the element itself and it is oem toyota parts . I found it easier that way good luck.

[samilcar]

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=2406306

Looks like a design change that caused the filters not to seal tightly enough, causing a bit of oil seepage. Fram is recalling all of the filters with this new design and going back to the known good old design.

[wag]

In terms of readily available reasonably priced oil filters, IMHO Purolator (Bosch, Proline, Motorcraft, Performax, Pennzoil, QS, Valvoline), WIX (NAPA, AutoExtra), and Denso (Toyota) all manufacture much higher quality oil filters than either Fram or Champion (ACDelco, M1, STP, Supertech). This is the consensus opinion of "Bob is the Oil Guy" forum members as well, and they are a very analytical/picky bunch. You shouldn't have any problem locating one or more of these better oil filter brands.
My personal oil filter preference is the higher-end Purolator PureOne (or Bosch Premium, it is the same oil filter). They run about $6.50US but you can often find them on-sale or with rebates.
BTW, the same parent company now owns both Fram and Champion Labs. They are in the process of closing down many of their North American production facilities and moving much of their production off-shore (BOOOOO!!!).

[jc]

Steve,

I prefer to use a NAPA Gold (Made by Wix) using part number 91516 (Which is a bit larger filter). Right now I'm Running a Bosch distance plus.

Currently, I change the oil filter every second oil change. Got the tip from BITOG forums where people have opened filters up and said they could go an extra oil change and they have the pictures to prove it.

Most people don't like Fram, they refer to it as "the orange can of death". I've used fram filters years ago, but I've switched.

Regards, JC.

[Steve721]

Thank you all for your help. I suppose Fram isn't as top notch as it once was. Getting my filter from the dealer never crossed my mind. I used to do this when I had my Mustang and it slipped my mind. (Of course now you can get Motorcraft filters anywhere). I did read some reviews about Purolator PureOne oil filters, and they sound pretty good. (Fram was much, much lower down the scale). Learn something new everyday. Thanks again, everyone!

[pjksr02]

What year Sienna do you have? The newer models have cartridge-style filters, which are somewhat harder to find, having fewer aftermarket clones.

[Steve721]

My Sienna is a 2005. Regular spin-on type. I have heard of the cartridge type and believe they are on the newer ones. Not 100% on that though.

[weebl]

I personally think they did you a favour pulling the Fram off the shelf. Mediocre quality and construction for approximately the same price as many far better constructed filters.

I use Napa Gold (Wix) or Toyota OE, as I feel these are the best value for price and quality. Some people will prefer other brands. You can also find better than these two, but for a pretty penny, and in my mind, not worth the price for this application.

[wag]

I suspect that this recall is going to seriously hurt Fram oil filter sales on a long-term basis as many people (like Steve721) will discover higher quality alternatives and never go back to buying them.
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Walmart started selling a larger selection of other brands in the future as a result of this. I noticed that they recently started selling the super high-end and expensive Bosch Distance Plus oil filters for some vehicles.

[brian_bp]

My Sienna is a 2005. Regular spin-on type. I have heard of the cartridge type and believe they are on the newer ones. Not 100% on that though.

Correct - the 2GR-FE engine (used in the Sienna starting in 2007) has a cartridge-type engine oil filter, while the earlier MZ-family (1MZ-FE in 1998-2003 and 3MZ-FE in 2004-2006) engine uses a spin-on filter.

[wiswind]

Fram's Extended Guard filter is a good filter as well.

The Bosch Distance Plus is different than the Purolator Pure One.
It has a thicker metal for the can, slightly different (better) filter media, and a different bypass valve.
Both are great filters, made by the same company, but the Distance Plus is a step up from the Pure One.

I used the WIX filter, and like their construction as well.

I have the Distance Plus on my 2003 Sienna.......

I use the slightly longer filter......plenty of room.....same in all other spec's, including bypass pressure, as the shorter ones listed for our Sienna.
WIX# 51516 (Instead of 51348)
FRAM# XG3600 (instead of XG3614)
Bosch Distance Plus# D3422 (Instead of D3330)

[mister_two]

I used Pureone for my Honda Accord and my sister's Camry and they work fine, easy to install and take off, the filter itself has this coarse material that seems to grab on to the wrench better. For my 2011 Sienna I used Pureone for the first oil change, I find their filter element to be a bit different from the OEM oil filter - the OEM oil filter seem to fit better in the cartridge. I just did my second oil change and I went back to the OEM filter. I bought a dozen online/ebay and with shipping it came out to about 5 bucks for filter. I don't think I save much with after market oil filters.

[slickracer]

Watch the Pureone cartridge filter...there's numerous pictures of them collapsing. I stick with OEM Toyota.